


Oak-Leaved Geranium

by BoostThatGold



Category: Naruto
Genre: Dai-hachi-han | Team 8 (Naruto)-centric, Flower Pressing, Gen, Team Bonding, shino deserves hugs, these guys just deserve hugs, touch-starved prompt 'I'm desperate for a hug', touch-starved shino
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-20 20:49:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21287963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoostThatGold/pseuds/BoostThatGold
Summary: For the prompt on tumblr: 'I'm desperate for a hug'Something was bothering Shino. And when something was bothering Shino, it bothered Kiba and Hinata as well. Team 8 haven't been together on missions lately, so Kiba and Hinata decide to get the team together to press flowers and hopefully to find out what was wrong with their friend.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 65





	Oak-Leaved Geranium

**Author's Note:**

  * For [darknessandrageandkittens](https://archiveofourown.org/users/darknessandrageandkittens/gifts).

Something was bothering Shino.

Okay. It wasn’t like Shino was the easiest of guys to read, but Kiba had been with him and Hinata on a team for over three years. Their bond was strong, perhaps as strong as his bond with Akamaru! Well, almost.

Shino was quiet, observant, loyal and… okay, maybe a bit creepy too, with that jutsu of his. Still, if Kiba had ever had a fear of bugs, it had long been squashed (ha, squashed) by now. It hadn’t taken Kiba long to see that Shino and his insects had a bond just like him and his beloved ninken.

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Kiba?” Reticent as always, Hinata held a lilac book close to her chest. She eyed the flowers her companion carried in a basket that the two of them had gathered earlier that morning. “I mean, pressing these flowers… that’s not something Shino has ever shown interest in doing…” Her fingers tightened on the cover. “Why do you think this will help him?”

_Because Shino loves to be included… Because I don’t know what else to do when it’s so hard to discuss anything when he doesn’t feel like it… _Kiba shook his head and instead settled on: “Because it’s something you like to do, and I thought it’d be more fun if we all did it together!” He reached out to ruffle Akamaru’s shaggy head. “Right, Akamaru?” He gave a loud bark of assent and Kiba gave Hinata a grin. “Shino’ll brighten up when he sees us, I’m sure.”

Hinata’s fingers slowly relaxed and she nodded. “I… suppose you’re right.”

Kiba’s grin widened. “That’s the spirit.” He reached out and clasped a hand on her shoulder before picking up the pace to the Aburame clan grounds.

It took a moment to find Shino. He was knelt on the grass, one hand holding up a rock to observe whatever critters had decided to find refuge underneath. For a moment, Kiba just stopped to observe him. Right here and now, Shino seemed to be in his natural element (even if that really was just looking at rocks). Still, there was no-one else around… without him and Hinata, was it like that for Shino often? It certainly was almost silent compared to the chaotic home life he himself experienced. The only sound was the very faint buzzing that seemed to follow Shino everywhere – although Kiba had been told only he seemed to notice it.

“Oi, Shino! There you are!” He called out as he made his way towards Shino. Hinata followed, smiling when Shino stiffened and looked up at them.

Shino’s shoulders relaxed and he carefully returned the rock to its previous position, his brows furrowing as he made sure he wouldn’t disturb anything living underneath too badly. He hummed thoughtfully and made a few notes into a tiny pocket notebook before he stored it away and answered them. “Hinata. Kiba. I wasn’t expecting either of you today?” Though his voice was almost a monotone, they had known him long enough to hear the question there.

“Yes, well…” Hinata reached up and twirled a lock of dark hair between her fingers. “Kiba and I… Kiba suggested we could press some flowers together. We didn’t want to bother you too early, so we collected the flowers before coming to find you.” She held out the lilac book that was familiar to both of her teammates. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, of course. What – what do you think?”

Shino got to his feet and paused to wipe his hands before taking the book with care. He looked over it, expression inscrutable behind his sunglasses and the high collar of his coat. He nodded. “Alright. I think I can spare the time from my research to do this with you.”

Kiba breathed a sigh of relief as they moved over to the front porch of the Aburame residence and set the book between the three of them. Akamaru laid his large body on the grass and rested his head on his paws. His tail thumped a lazy rhythm onto the ground as he watched them take turns pressing flowers within the pages.

Shino went first at Hinata’s calm encouragement. It was only a daisy. Picked by Kiba, one of the petals was slightly torn from his enthusiastic approach to picking as many flowers as quickly as possibly to impress Hinata. Regardless, Shino used the same care he had applied to documenting the insects under the rock to press it between the pages and immortalise it for one of his two closest friends. The job was quick and tidy. He looked up at Hinata from behind his sunglasses afterwards. “Is that satisfactory?”

“You’re very careful, Shino,” Hinata answered and from her those words sounded like the highest praise.

Kiba grinned and wrapped an arm around Shino’s shoulders, pulling him close and giving him a playful shake. “Yeah, man! I never knew you were good at all this delicate stuff.”

Shino squirmed a little in his hold when he shook him, but otherwise didn’t try and get out of the manhandling. In fact, he seemed to lean into it. “Mm… you two have been sent on a lot of tracking missions lately.”

It was such a non-sequitur that for a moment Kiba lost the thread of the conversation. He looked over at Hinata, her pale eyes looking as confused by the sudden conversational change as he was, before he decided to muddle through as he always did. “Heh, yeah, I guess so. Why? You not been getting enough missions since Kurenai-sensei disbanded the team?” They still worked together, but since they all were expert trackers, and with Kurenai-sensei pregnant, this had become slowly rarer as they were assigned to missions in need of their unique skills.

Was that what was bothering Shino? His sense of pride getting in the way of his well-being? It wouldn’t be the first time. Kiba opened his mouth to tell Shino that he was every bit the sensory-nin that they were, and if Tsunade couldn’t see that she could _shove_ it, when he was interrupted by a quiet: “That’s not it at all.”

Kiba unwound his arm from around him, feeling the same sudden shift towards seriousness that Hinata also seemed to sense, if her expression was any indication. She reached out and her hand rested over the top of Shino’s own where they rested on his lap. She moved a little closer, the book forgotten. “Then what’s the matter? I understand we have all been busy lately, but I must admit, we’ve noticed it seems to be affecting you the most.”

More of Shino’s face disappeared into the collar of his coat as he lowered his head. He reached his free hand out towards Akamaru and ran his fingers through his fur once the large dog came close enough to talk. “That’s exactly it. We have all been very busy lately and…” He stopped. His hand ran through Akamaru’s fur again. The white-haired ninken made a content sound and rubbed his face against his palm. Shino watched him, seeming to consider something. Kiba managed to stay quiet and Hinata gently ran her thumb over the back of Shino’s hand. They both knew he often needed time to decide on how much to reveal to others.

They sat like that for a while, silent in their company, waiting. The cool breeze stole away some of the flowers from the basket, but none of them made a movement to stop them. An oak-leaved geranium plucked hastily from the Hyūga grounds drifted by, brushing Akamaru’s back and along his tail before floating further out of reach.

Shino brushed a little of the pollen off Akamaru’s back before finally speaking again. “Despite my best efforts, I do not always seem to make very close friends. Therefore…” He looked in Kiba’s direction, and then at Hinata’s. “I think I have missed the pair of you quite a lot. But, of course, bothering you would be…”

He was cut off when Kiba laughed and wrapped his arms around him. He dragged him closer, pulling him so he could rest his chin on his head and Shino’s legs were awkwardly trying to keep some sort of balance on the floor. “Is that all? God, Hinata and I thought something really bad had happened on a mission! It’s a relief to know that you were just being weird about being desperate for a hug and company from your friends.” Akamaru barked excitedly and bounded closer, trying to squirm his head in between Shino and Kiba’s arms wrapped around him.

“This isn’t exactly what I meant, but…”

Once again, Shino was interrupted by Kiba waving a hand towards Hinata, who seemed to be trying to stifle a giggle behind her hand. “C’mon, Hinata, get in here! Team Eight’s been missing out on valuable us time!” He loosened the hold with his other arm enough for Shino to sit up properly.

The bug-user didn’t return the hug, but he didn’t resist it more than what it took to stop Akamaru from licking the sunglasses so hard they came off his face.

When Hinata joined them, Shino made a sighing sound and Kiba felt the last of the tension leave his body when her hand soothingly ran up and down his back. He smiled and moved so that he had an arm around her as well as he decided.

When Shino got like this, he would find Hinata and seek him out. Even when they were Jounin. Even when Kiba became the Hokage (because Naruto could suck it if he thought he was getting the position before Kiba did – he had plans)! Shino cared for them and they cared for him. Team Eight might be disbanded, but there was always time for his friends in his heart.

**Author's Note:**

> For darknessandterrorandkittens on tumblr ^_^


End file.
